Curtain Call
by Bitsy
Summary: After her first live performance, Meena contemplates what to do with her newfound confidence now that Moon theater is gone. Fortunately, she's got a friend to help her figure it out. (A Johnny x Meena present for my Secret Santa recipient, CyanWings, from Sing Discord group. Enjoy!)


CURTAIN CALL

"Oh, baby, you were _wonderful!_ " said the elephant mother as she hugged her daughter tightly. "I just knew you could do it!"

" _Mooom_ , come on!" laughed Meena. "It's no big deal."

"HMPH! Like heck it isn't!" cried her grandfather. "Do you know how long we've been waiting for this? Everybody loved you!"

Meena blushed. "Well…it _was_ your birthday wish I'm glad I helped make it come true."

Her grandfather smiled as he stroked her cheek with his wrinkly trunk. "You sure did, Meena. And I'm gonna make that same wish every year to make sure it stays that way."

Blinking away the tears, Meena gave him a huge hug, burying her eyes in his ears. "I love you, grandpa."

"Love you more, baby girl," he whispered, returning the hug.

Just then, her grandmother started chuckling. Putting a finger to her lips, she pointed to one of the benches in the front row. Many of Rosita's piglets were already nodding off, some of them fast asleep. It had been quite a rambunctious night for them and their energy had finally run out. Their mother, who had been busy speaking with her husband, realized it was time for these little piggies to go home.

"Oh boy," she said softly as she picked up one of her sons. "Let's get these guys back to the van."

"Need some help with those, darlin'?" whispered Meena's mother. "I know what it's like handling little ones."

Rosita sighed happily. "That would be wonderful. Thank you."

Between the six of them, all twenty-five sleepy piglets were gently carried and placed in the van. A few had woken up and protested that they weren't tired, only to nod back off to sleep.

"Norman and I are going to drop off the kids, then I'll come back to help clean up," said Rosita as she was getting in the van.

"Not that there's much left to get…" said Meena, taking a look over her shoulder at the stage. Aside from some props from Rosita's performance and a few costumes, everything else was property of the bank.

"Still, Mr. Moon shouldn't take all the heat for this. This was mainly a joint effort. I'll see you guys soon." Rosita then reached out of the window and patted Meena's shoulder. "Great job tonight, honey!"

"You too," said Meena. "Your family must be so proud."

Norman chuckled from the driver's seat. "Oh, we are. See you guys later."

Meena waved at the van as the pig family drove off. Taking a deep sigh, she looked back at the stage. It looked so empty and sad, like watching the dying embers of a fire. She was going to miss this place. Or what was left of it.

"You ready to go home, Meena?" asked her mother. "Your grandparents look more tired than the piglets."

"Uhhh, not quite yet, mom. I think I heard Eddie talking about getting some pizza to help celebrate…our last show."

Her mother nodded solemnly. "I understand, dearie. Remember, the buses stop running at eleven, so try not to stay out too late."

Meena smiled and hugged her mother goodbye, then went back to the stage. Despite all that happened, she was amazed at how well it turned out. At first, it seemed like nobody was interested in attending, aside from friends and family. Thanks to Rosita and Gunter's big opening number, more and more curious bystanders started to attend. By the time she was ready to sing, the entire theater was already filled to the brim. If anything, _she_ had the biggest crowd.

And she did it.

She couldn't believe after all those years of running away from the spotlight and her dream, she had finally done the impossible.

She sang in front of an audience that mostly consisted of strangers!

She thought back to how nervous she was when it was her turn to perform. She wanted to run, hide, do anything that would send her as far away from the microphone as possible. Then she looked over at her friends, all of them silently encouraging her; Mr. Moon quietly saying "sing!" Hesitantly taking the cue, Meena started to sing the song she had been practicing for hours. The nerves were still there; her heart racing a mile a minute, but she persisted. Once she got through the first few lines, she felt something happening. Her fear became excitement. She wanted to keep going, sing louder and stronger. Looking at the faces in the audience, they weren't cruelly judging her; they wanted more. She wanted more! By the time she had reached the first chorus, she was grabbing that mic and singing her heart out. The cheers from the crowd gave her enough energy to dance around the stage, reaching out to the patrons in the front row, something she NEVER thought she'd ever have the courage to do. It was the most amazing feeling. And when she hit her last note, the applause almost deafened her, but she didn't care. It was done and she was victorious!

Even after she changed back into her hoodie and jeans, Meena was still giddy from the show. So many of the audience members were begging for an encore from not only her, but from her friends as well. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances regarding Judy from the bank and literally trespassing on private property, the cops had declared that the crowd had to leave by midnight. Judy wanted to have the police use brute force, but they could see it was all harmless fun. Not only that, but they had multiple reports of an escaped convict on the loose in the city and needed to have all their guys on the lookout. A small trespassing complaint could wait.

Still, it gave the audience enough time to congratulate the performers, get a few autographs, and even some selfies. In all her life, Meena never felt so accepted, so appreciated, so loved…

And now it was over.

She looked over the landscape of her new "backdrop." She felt guilty for destroying half the stage, but it did give her a nice view of the moon and stars. She chuckled: a moon shining down on the former Moon Theater. How ironically poetic.

"Hey, Meena."

Meena jumped slightly, then turned to see it was only Johnny coming to join her on stage. "Oh, uh, hey Johnny."

"Enjoying the view?"

"Oh! Oh yeah, just thinking about stuff."

Johnny nodded, coming to stand beside her.

She felt her face grow a little warm. She remembered being smitten with the gorilla when they met in line for the auditions. She was so busy going through her mind of what to sing for Mr. Moon that she almost didn't hear him introduce himself. She couldn't get over how handsome he was. His head fur was perfectly coiffed, his eyes were a soft brown. Even his teeth sparkled white (though his incisors did make him a tad intimidating). Still, despite the "tough guy" appearance, Johnny was a perfect gentleman. He was courteous, polite, and didn't pressure Meena into talking when she didn't immediately respond. Just when she was finally getting over her shyness, it was already his turn to sing.

And boy, could he sing! She felt her heart melt when he started singing one of her favorite songs. She loved the original, but Johnny's cover made it ten times better. He didn't look nervous at all when he approached the mic. He just went right into the song, putting more emotion into every note he sang. And she was expected to follow _that?_ If only she had been as confident as him when she tried to audition…

"What a night, 'ey?" he asked, snapping her out of her flashback.

Meena laughed nervously. "Yeah, totally."

After a few moments of silence, she decided to take another bold leap and compliment Johnny on his performance…at the exact same time he was doing the same. Both teens mumbled apologies and Johnny allowed Meena to speak first.

"I just wanted to say you did great tonight," she said, her ears covering her face. "You're really good at the piano."

Johnny scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, not bad results for an all-nighter."

Meena knew Johnny was referring to the late night piano lesson Ms. Crawley gave him last week. It felt awkward collecting all those glass panes from Moon's office while they were both working at the piano. She wanted to tell him how great he sounded, but she could tell he was giving the lesson his entire attention and didn't want to distract him.

"Still can't believe I was able to pull it off, though," he continued, kicking a random pebble off the stage. "And, not to sound weird, but…I am really glad I sang before you."

Meena had not been expecting that. "Really? Why?"

"Because you were _amazing!_ I never heard anyone sing like that before. There's no way I could've followed your act. I would've been so scared, I'd have forgotten all my lessons and just…Meena? Y-you ok?"

Meena was certain her face was as red as a beet at this point. She remembered how boys barely talked to her all through high school and here was this hunk just gushing about how great her performance was. Not only that, but he was comparing himself to her and basically calling himself second-best.

"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered, hiding further behind her ears. "That's just the nicest thing a boy has ever said to me…"

"Really?" asked Johnny softly. "Well, that's hard to believe."

Taking a small peek, she could see Johnny smiling up at her, his eyes twinkling. Was Johnny _flirting_ with her? Should she flirt back? This was all very new territory.

"Anyway, I think you were the grand finale Mr. Moon was hoping for."

Suddenly, a wave of sadness canceled out Meena's shyness. "Yeah…too bad it's the last one I'm ever going to do."

"What do you mean?"

Meena sighed. "Isn't it obvious? It's over! All our hard work? All that time we spent putting this together? It…it's never gonna happen again."

Meena then turned and walked to the edge of the stage. "When I first came here, I couldn't get over how amazing this place was. The lights, the sounds, even the smell. I know the theater had seen better days, but Mr. Moon was right: it really was a place of wonder and enchantment. I'm gonna miss working with you guys and watching you rehearse. I'm gonna miss performing on this stage, even though I only did it one time. I'm gonna miss…everything."

She felt her eyes start to well up with tears and tried to hold them back. Then she felt a light hand touch her arm, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"It doesn't have to be the end, Meena," Johnny said. "The physical theater? Yeah, it's gone. Probably forever. But your dream to be a singer? All that can still happen." Johnny then reached around and took Meena's hand, gently turning her to face him. This time, she moved her ears aside so she could look into his eyes. "It wasn't this stage that made you great, Meena. It was _you_! Everything the audience loved about your performance was because of you! We just gotta find you a different stage, that's all. There are plenty of other venues in this city. Clubs, choirs, karaoke."

Meena laughed. "Karaoke? Seriously?"

"What?" Johnny said, shrugging his shoulders. "Never done that! I always wanted to try it."

Meena smiled. Johnny was being so sweet and had succeeded in cheering her up, even if it only elevated her mood to bittersweet. Her mind still lingered on one remaining thought.

"I guess the rest of us will be ok," she said, once again looking down. "But…what about Mr. Moon? This theater was his whole life. He told me that his father had washed cars for thirty years just to buy this place for him. What'll he do now?"

Before Johnny could answer, he was suddenly interrupted by a loud hooting and hollering coming from backstage. Exchanging curious glances, they both raced backstage to see what the commotion was. They found Buster and Eddie jumping up and down, hugging and laughing like a couple of children on Christmas morning. The spectacle soon attracted the attention of Ash, Gunter, and Ms. Crawley.

"What happened?" asked Ash. "Did one of them propose?"

"I'm not sure," said Ms. Crawley, scratching her scales quizzically. "I did see them speaking with Nana Noodleman earlier."

"Nana Noodleman?" asked Johnny. "Wait, she was here?"

"Did she like the show?" asked Meena.

"Oh ho! Did she LIKE the show?" Buster exclaimed. "Eddie, Eddie! Tell 'em what she told us!"

Eddie, who was also beaming with excitement took a deep breath before speaking. "Well, Nana was able to see…"

"Nana came to the show and she loved it!" cried Buster. "Isn't that awesome? Tell her what else she said, Eddie!"

"Uh, ok. Well, Nana loved the show so much…"

"She loved it so much, she's going to buy the property from the bank to rebuild the theater!"

Meena's jaw dropped. "Wait! So, the theater's coming back?"

"Of course it is! Aaaaaand the best part? Tell 'em, Eddie! Go on!"

At first, Eddie was silent. He studied his friend to see any inkling of an interruption, then tried to speak once again. 

"And my nana told us…"

"SHE'S GONNA LET ME RUN THE THEATER!"

The reaction was instantaneous. A loud cheer erupted from everyone; even Ash was ecstatic. Gunter leapt forward and gave Buster a good-natured noogie, Johnny gave him a high five followed by a hearty pat on the back. Ash threw her arms around Buster's neck, hugging him tightly, but not as tightly as Meena who dropped to her knees, bringing everyone she could reach into a large group hug!

"Mr. Moon, this is great!" cried Meena, wiping away the tears of joy. "I'm so glad you're getting a second chance."

"Oh, tell me about it," gasped Buster, catching breath after the hug. "But, honestly, it was all of you that brought this together. You guys showed me what it truly means to put on a great show. I couldn't have done this without any of you! I still can't believe this is happening. I got so many great ideas! We could run a yearly talent show, put on musicals, a holiday concert!"

"Easy, Buster," said Eddie, patting him on the back. "Nana hasn't even signed the lease yet. We still got a lot of planning to do. Not to mention we gotta hire some new stagehands…"

"I could help with that until you do," said Meena, much to everyone's surprise. Especially Johnny's.

"You wanna go back to being a stagehand?" he asked. "But you finally got over your fear."

"Well, I already have some experience. Plus, Mr. Moon's gonna need some help getting back on his feet. If it weren't for him, none of us would've had this night."

Buster smiled, stepping forward and patting Meena's large hand. "I really appreciate that, kid, and I will take you up on that offer. But don't think I'm gonna keep you backstage all the time! Once we got a spotlight for you, you're gonna go right back out there and give this city an encore they won't forget! I got it! Grand reopening concert! We'll give a lucky selected few a private tour, then end with a huge shebang! Better get Rosita to help with stage design and we'll need updated sound equipment…"

As Buster was constantly rattling off ideas, Eddie turned to the others. "Guess I'm gonna have to get used to that again…"

"Yeah, just tell Moon that if he's going back to the squid-powered stage idea to use shatter-proof glass," said Ash.

"Oh em geeeee!" squealed Gunter. "This es like SO WUNDERBAR! I just gotta call Rosita and tell her the good news!"

Meena couldn't believe how happy she felt. A few moments ago, she was so upset that her theater life ended before it began. Now, with her new found confidence, she was able to make a fresh start in a brand new theater.

"Well, Meena," said Johnny, walking up to her, "looks like we won't have to look for a new venue. Though I was kinda hoping…nah, never mind. Probably not interested…"

"Not interested in what?" she asked.

It was then that Johnny's face started to go slightly red. "Weeeell…I thought maybe we could… I mean, it'll be awhile before the theater's built and I didn't really get a chance to get to know you during the rehearsals and…thought we could…"

"Go…out?"

Johnny coughed nervously, barely able to look her in the eyes. "Y-yeah…I mean, if you wanted to. It's cool if you don't. I don't want you to think I'm…"

"No!" cried Meena. "I mean, yes! I-I mean…that sounds nice. I'd love to."

Johnny's eyes then lit up as finally met her gaze. "Ok! Great! Uh, this Saturday?"

"Sure!"

"Maybe dinner? I know a great diner on Barley street."

Meena nodded. "Awesome…and there is a karaoke bar around the corner from there, if you still wanted to try it out."

"Yes! Yes, absolutely."

"Sweet…"

"Yeah, yeah you are. I mean, it is!"

For a moment, the two teenagers just stood there, Meena still trying to wrap her mind around what was happening. Johnny asked her out. He wanted to spend time with her! It was like a dream come true.

"Right!" said Johnny, clapping his hands before backing away. "Should probably go see if Ms. Crawley needs help with anything - WHOOP!"

Johnny had been focusing on Meena that he didn't notice the stray cord behind his feet, sending him falling backwards. Fortunately, Meena had quick reflexes and she was able to catch him with her trunk, pulling him back to his feet. She pulled a bit too strongly and sent Johnny tumbling forward into Meena's arms.

"Y-you ok?" asked Meena, steadying Johnny.

"Yeah, yeah no problem," he said, brushing himself off. "Well…call you later." 

Johnny then hurried away looking for Ms. Crawley. Meena felt her heart fluttering madly as she watched him walk off.

"I saw that…"

Meena looked down to see Ash grinning up at her, waggling her eyebrows. "Not totally surprised, though. I had a feeling Johnny was carrying a torch for you. Way to go, girlfriend." She offered Meena her fist to bump, to which she replied with the tip of her trunk.

"Thanks, Ash," said Meena shyly. "Though…I think there's one small problem."

Ash looked up quizzically. "And that is…?"

"I just realized…I forgot to give him my number!"

THE END


End file.
